I made the mistake of buying an SEC skeleton bucket. Won't do that again in a million years. I have posted before about what a piece of garbage it is. It is all mild steel, including the base edge. Weld quality is poor to non existant. Pin bores were machined a bit too small, so before I could even use it, I had to line-bore it. I used mine sorting oversized rocks from loose spoil piles, and it did not last. I could not imagine digging with it.
As bad as the quality of tooth it had, I still have 4 out of 6 original teeth, hardly worn down. The other 2 have been replaced, because we didn't bother to try to find them when the shanks broke off. In spite of that, the base edge is scalloped nearly 2" deep, the side plates are 1/2 as thick as they started, and I lost count of how many times the bars broke out.
The base edge bent about 4" in the center the first day when the operator made the mistake of putting the bucket down to lift the tracks slightly to turn on some rough ground. The pin bosses have all broken out, and even the back of the bucket, where the lugs attach is bent.
Keep in mind, it has maybe 60 to 80 hours of use, and all of it sorting loose spoil piles.
Cheap does not even begin to explain how bad these things are.
